Another one bites the dust: Independent Voice ceases print edition

Another town is losing its local newspaper, as Tipp City’s Independent Voice becomes the latest to fold. The Ohio weekly is just another victim of the economic slump and decreasing ad revenue, though the publisher also cited organizations in town that encouraged out of town businesses and “past employee drug problems” for the paper’s demise, according to the Dayton Daily News.

The town’s residents are not only losing their newspaper, but are also losing the self-described “best source for local news around.” And though the paper was completely independent and never part of a news conglomeration, its disappearance again proved the news is never free from economic stress.

The newspaper’s permanent staff of two intends to update their Web site “as best they can,” the publisher said, but that all depends on whether they stay in Tipp City and stay away from illegal forms of chemically addicting mood modifiers. Although maybe if the town is promoting non-local businesses, it could also support a non-local paper with non-local advertisements, making the paper truly independent from the community it was intended to serve.